


Write You A Love Song

by theloverneverleaves



Series: Shadowhunters Love Fest [12]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Garage Band Practice, Jace is a good friend, M/M, Music Nerds, and maybe more - Freeform, poor Simon tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 20:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9676700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theloverneverleaves/pseuds/theloverneverleaves
Summary: It's the most romantic night of the year, or so they say. Simon was supposed to be going to Alec's big charity gala, but things turned against him and suddenly he finds himself sitting alone with a guitar in his garage. On Valentine's Day. What he doesn't expect is that someone might put him above the big gala in question.aka. world inverted jimon being soft music nerds





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of the [Shadowhunters Love Fest](http://achilleanragnor.tumblr.com/post/154910608248/shadowhunters-valentines-day-fic-a-thon). The prompt today is Alone on Valentine's Day - or not as the case may be. 
> 
> Come yell at me at [isabellebiwoods](http://isabellebiwoods.tumblr.com/) xoxo

A single electric light burned at the ceiling of the garage, the weak bulb washing the room with a strange orange glow. The electric heater hummed in the corner of the room, rugs and blankets covering every surface if only to try and make the acoustics better. It was one of the reasons why he’d loved this apartment when he’d bought it. The apartment itself might be as small and cramped as you’d expect from a place in the middle of New York, but the old garage downstairs was part of the lease. 

It had needed a little love and affection to become anything worthy of a music studio, and it was still mostly held together with liberal amounts of duct tape and extension leads. But it was a lot better than nothing, and this place had been his ever since he’d moved out of his Mom’s place. He’d written a lot of music here. 

It was a well known fact that people wrote their best music whilst heartbroken. Sam Smith, Adele, Taylor Swift… serious, record breaking, Grammy award winning artists seemed to have one thing in common when it came to their youthful success. They’d had their hearts smashed into a thousand pieces.

So really, Simon should be feeling positive about the fact he was sitting alone in his garage with a beer and his guitar on Valentine’s Day, thinking about the love he’d lost. It was good inspiration, right?

Only the thing about being utterly heartbroken and miserable was that it was kind of hard to be  _ positive _ about anything.

It was his own fault, really. He and Izzy had been doing so well, but then the band had taken off, and he’d spent most of his time with Maureen and the rest of the guys, either practicing or performing for real. Gigs were always late at night, and Izzy was working regular hours at the Institute, so their paths never seemed to cross anymore. There’d been this void opening up between them, and he hadn’t even noticed until it was too late. He’d taken her for granted. He’d thought she was always going to be there.

Until she wasn’t.

Isabelle Lightwood was the organ in his body that he hadn’t realised he needed until it broke down and gave up on him. And only serious surgery could fix that. Or time.

That was good. He should write that down. Ed Sheeran eat your heart out.

He didn’t think any of the gang hated his guts too much for the breakup - certainly Clary was still his best friend, and she’d been supportive enough. Izzy herself hadn’t even been that angry. They’d agreed to stay friends, actually, but that said, even that took time. He couldn’t just… jump from her being his everything to just being  _ friends _ in a matter of weeks. He needed some space to get there. And besides, the band needed work. Music was everything to him. 

Jace, at least, had always been able to understand. He was a classically trained pianist, or so he’d found out one night when they’d all gotten so blind drunk that they probably would have confessed anything to each other. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, the whole works. Music was in his blood too, but Jace had never really wanted to make a career out of it the same way Simon did. So Jace had bought himself a coffee shop and gone with that instead. At least coffee was more stable. People would always need coffee.

Such as Simon, who was Jace’s best customer these days. 

However, the shop wasn’t open tonight, as everyone was out doing something for Valentine’s Day. It was Alec’s big charity party, and he’d been working towards this for weeks. And as a family benefit, Alec had invited Jace and Izzy along without a second thought. Jace - who actually  _ was _ just friends with his ex - had taken Clary along as a plus one, and he was  _ supposed  _ to be going with Izzy but that… just wasn’t the plan right now. Maureen was out with  _ her  _ new girlfriend, Lydia, which meant Simon was left alone.

That was fine. He was probably pretty miserable to be around anyway.

Putting the beer aside and focusing on his guitar, Simon let his fingers wander, quietly picking out a tune that was really more of sad, slow chord progression than anything. Round and round his mind went, spinning in a circle, looking for the song in the notes. There had to be something. Here he was, alone and miserable on Valentine’s Day. There had to be something to come out of that. 

Just as he was beginning to think all of this was pointless and he was going nowhere, there was a rattle at the garage door, and the shutter slid up a few feet before someone ducked underneath, quickly pulling the door closed again. He shook his head a little, droplets of water scattering across the room, the water making the front of his hair a few shades darker than the rest of his startlingly blonde hair. 

“Damn, rain and suits really do not mix.”

Simon’s fingers jarred to a halt on the guitar strings, taking in the figure of classic Greek beauty standing in his garage, somehow making the space look completely and utterly inferior compared to  _ him _ . A dark navy blue suit the colour of midnight set off the hint of blue in his eyes, the drops of rain across his shoulders doing absolutely nothing to detract from the look, no matter what he said. A classic white shirt stood out with startling contrast, and the black velvet tie added a certain flair that made Simon almost sure that he hadn’t picked it out himself. Probably a joint effort between him and Alec.

Jace Lightwood was a vision, and he was standing in the middle of Simon’s garage. On Valentine’s Day, no less.

“What are you doing here?” Simon choked out, not trying to sound ungrateful, but probably hitting the mark anyway. Jace was meant to be at the party. He clearly had been to the party, unless he’d dressed up like this just to see Simon which was… definitely more of a turn on than it should be. Everything about Jace was a turn on, really. But Simon had never really looked, because the reason Simon even knew the Lightwoods was because Clary had starting dating Jace and he would  _ never _ hurt her like that. And then he’d been dating Izzy and even though Clary and Jace had broken up, he’d had  _ Izzy _ and she was brilliant and clever and beautiful and how could anyone look anywhere else when they had Isabelle Lightwood at their side?

But he didn’t have Isabelle Lightwood anymore. And here was Jace. And well…. Simon was looking. 

Rather than give him a straight answer, Jace held up his hand, showing off a couple of bottles of beer. “Thought you could use the supplies.” The fact that Jace knew him well enough to know what he usually needed when he was writing music was… flattering, to say the least. “I would have brought coffee but the van’s locked up and the keys are at my place.”

Simon blinked, watching as this apparition moved further into the space, pulling off his suit jacket and gently laying it over the old ratty couch at the side of the room before taking a seat on the piano stool. He knew he should say something, thank Jace for coming by at least, but he couldn’t quite make his mouth function properly. It was like the shock had disconnected the part of his brain that produced speech. All he needed to do was his open his mouth and speak. ‘Thank you’. Two little words. It would do. 

“How did you know I was here?” Simon asked. Ugh. Well. Close enough.

Not really.

Jace chuckled softly, fingers absently brushing along the keys of the second hand upright piano Simon had bought at a flea market. He didn’t play anything, didn’t make a sound. But he could see the longing in the movement. Oh, Jace Lightwood might have chosen not to become a concert pianist, but that didn’t mean he didn’t miss playing music every moment he was away from it. That was the thing about musicians. It was in your blood, in every single moment your heart pushed life through your veins. Emotions were bottled and broken unless they could be poured out somewhere and music… music was how you did it. 

“Where else would you be?” Jace asked, as if it was obvious. Simon opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it. Really, it was true. Where else would he be? Mourning with Netflix wasn’t his style. He’d much rather drown in his music. Maybe the real pause for thought was the fact that Jace knew him well enough to know it was that obvious.

Even Izzy had never worked out when he’d be playing and when he wouldn’t. She’d gotten into the habit of not disturbing him if he was in the garage, saying it wasn’t her space. She’d never felt at home in this part of his life. But Jace… Jace was as welcome here as anything else in the room. He was a part of the instrument, a key part that seemed to just make everything flow all the smoother. Jace belonged. 

Reaching over for the bottle opener Simon had left on the piano, Jace quietly popped the two beers open, passing one over to Simon silently. Simon took it, murmuring his thanks before taking a swig. It was a bit warm, and the bottle was damp, but he’d finished his previous one so he wasn’t complaining. “Where did you get this?” he asked idly.

“Stole it from Alec’s party,” Jace admitted, a slight smile curving his lips. Simon chuckled at the thought. Alec would protest at anyone smuggling alcohol out of his party, but that thought made him laugh all the more. 

“How was the party?” Simon asked, even though he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“Very… Alec. He knows what he’s doing though.” Jace paused, fingers finally sinking onto the keys of piano, gentle notes flowing from the instrument with a care and affection only Jace seemed to be able to extract from them. “The girls seemed to be having fun.”

It could only be Clary and Izzy. At least they were happy, though. He’d never wish anything else for either of them. No matter how  _ he _ was feeling tonight. 

Simon listened to the music Jace was weaving, putting the beer down and absently copying him, moving with the notes, fingers skating across guitar strings with a practiced ease of someone who’d been playing for their whole life. And then…

“I’m not mad, you know,” Jace said. “About Izzy. It didn’t work out. It happens.”

E minor. C.

“Like you and Clary?”

G. D.

“Yeah. Something like that.”

D. E minor.

“I’m not mad about that either.”

“I know.” Fingers picked out a tune, layering over chords Simon recognised from long ago. “Sometimes it’s for the best, though. Sometimes… sometimes we have to let go to get to where we’re supposed to be.”

“Yeah?” Simon mirrored Jace’s cadence in the music, letting it flow out of him. He played with other people all the time. That was part of being in a band. But Jace…. there was nothing quite like playing with Jace. They’d been friends for what felt like forever but this… This was one of his favourite parts of it all. Jace…. Jace was his favourite so many things. 

“Clary and Izzy were…  _ together _ .” Jace admitted, an emphasis in his voice that even Simon couldn’t misunderstand. “I think Clary’s been wanting to ask her out for a few days.”

“Why didn’t she talk to me?” Simon asked, confused. They’d been best friends since childhood. Why wouldn’t Clary talk to him about the girls she liked? Sure, they were just as good friends with the Lightwoods now, but he and Clary were practically siblings. She was meant to talk to him.

“I think she felt uncomfortable. Because you and Izzy didn’t break up that long ago.” Jace paused. “She didn’t want to hurt you. But… I told her that secrets don’t do anyone any good. That she should talk to Izzy before she lost the chance.”

Simon paused, mulling that over. He was right, of course. Why should Clary be unhappy just for his sake? He was already unhappy, and if Izzy was moving on and she could be happy… then of course she should be. It wasn’t like they’d broken up yesterday. It had been more than a month. It was just… today of all days he was feeling a bit raw. 

“Yeah… I mean, good for them,” Simon said sincerely. He meant it, he realised as he voiced the words. He wasn’t mad. He was sad about what he’d lost, but he was moving on. And if Izzy could move on, if she could be happy with someone else - especially his best friend - then she should go for it. He was sorry that things hadn’t worked out. But that didn’t mean they should stay sad forever.

“You should do the same, you know. You don’t need to… wallow and blame yourself. A relationship goes both ways.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be giving me shit for hurting your sister?” Simon asked, looking over. Jace smiled.

“Nah. That’s Alec’s job. Plus she can give you shit herself.”

“Don’t I know it,” Simon murmured idly. Izzy was dangerous in kickboxing classes, and she was fierce enough hold her own in literally everything she did. If she’d been really mad, he would have had a black eye and an earful. But he hadn’t had that at all. He just had a sad glass of wine with her and a even sadder smile.

He’d never known wine could be sad.

“I mean it, Si,” Jace pressed. “Let yourself move on. When you’re ready. Wherever that might take you.” He paused, fingers still flowing across the keys ceaselessly, music drifting with an elegance Simon both loved and envied. Simon glanced up from his guitar, and finally found that Jace was looking at him. It was a strange look. Intense. Unnamable. 

Simon swore his heart skipped a beat.

“Somehow I don’t think it’ll take me too far,” Simon replied quietly, and Jace smiled softly.

“ _ Wherever _ it takes you.” The way the words were said, Simon got the impression that Jace wasn’t completely oblivious to the slight flush on his face, the way his eyes couldn’t quite focus on the beautiful man currently playing his piano. “I’m here. No matter what.”

There was a lull for a moment as Jace finished his song, the final note ringing through the space as Simon stopped plucking the strings on his guitar. It took his breath away, and for a moment, their eyes met. Simon couldn’t help but wonder everything that could lie there, when he was ready. When they were both ready. 

He couldn’t help but be glad that day was just a little bit closer than it had been before.

“Now, why don’t you show me what you’ve been working on?” Jace suggested, and Simon nodding and smiling. He got to his feet, putting the guitar aside and reaching over for the sheet music. As he passed it over, he paused momentarily, holding the music in the air.

“Hey, Jace? Thanks.”

Jace smiled warmly, nodding once.

“Anytime.”


End file.
